I'm looking into getting coilovers, what are the pros and cons from you guys? I've read around a bit and I'm looking into purchasing some BC-Racing ones possibly sometime in the future or soon. I have lowered springs on my car currently with stock struts. The ride is bumpy, and potholes and such already suck. So I don't really know the difference would be to go to coilovers and be able to adjust my ride height so my wheels will fit better etc.
I had them on my last car but not with stock struts. My only suggestion is to find a cover for them in the winter. Once crap gets in those teeth/threads it is harder to adjust them come spring. Xluben made some dope DIY covers for his and I think he did it for pretty cheap. Otherwise you can buy them too. I liked them on my last car, but I wanted something that could clear snow in the winter on my current setup. Since you already have lowering springs I doubt this is a concern of yours. They are nice because you can adjust your ride height. I road low in the summer and highest setting in the summer. It was nice with aftermarket struts too because I could adjust the damper on the struts for the ride height or driving as needed. You might want to look into adjustable struts while you are looking at suspension.
oh, that's a good idea keeping them covered and I remember seeing that. I've heard some people mentioning that they don't last as long because they take more of a beating when lowered so much.
Wut? You don't want to go around adjusting the ride height all the time unless you also want to get an alignment each time. Just set it and forget it. Stay away from Japanese brands. They're not made for rough roads. Something like KW works much better for the street. The biggest advantage is when they're packaged with camber/caster adjustable top plates and are independently adjustable for rebound/compression. They usually end up being cheaper than buying springs, dual adjustable struts, camber plates and/or adjustable lateral links, etc... You're talking about "coilovers" and not coilover springs, right?
I plan on keeping it at a solid ride height. I'm talking about purchasing something like this: http://www.maperformance.com/bc-racing-br-series-coilover-kit.html http://www.maperformance.com/fortune-auto-500-series-coilovers-sti-2004-2007-fa-500-co-0407sti.html
Here's a photo of the covers I have on my car now: I guess I won't know how well they did until I take them off in the spring. I've adjusted mine quite a few times since I got them. When I had Jeff do my alignment, I mentioned that I planned on raising it up in the winter, and wanted to know if I needed a new alignment. When he aligned me I was pretty low, and he put it around 2-2.5 degrees of camber, and then he raised the car 1-2" or so, and he said it only changed the camber by about 1 degree. That would basically put it back into OEM spec. So, I haven't been too worried about fiddling around with my ride height. It seems like it will always be in the ballpark of what I want. Maybe I'm just being naive and don't really know what I'm doing, though... Also, on anything but the crappiest coilovers, changing the ride height will not change the spring preload or the total suspension travel that is available. So, they would "take more of a beating" when they are lowered more. As for how I like the coilovers, I think they are fine for what I want. They definitely don't have OEM ride quality, but they aren't too terrible. Mine are pretty bouncy if you set the damping to the lowest setting. You really have to turn them to most of the way stiff to get it under control. That makes the ride a bit more harsh, but it's not unbearable. I really don't think I'm a good enough driver to know if they actually make me faster to have them, but I do like the ability to change my ride height whenever I want.
Its not the camber you need to worry about. I though the bc inverteds on my gd wrx were horse****. Probably the worst suspension setup I've had on any subaru... out of 8 or 9.
the BC's in my GC8 sucked a lot driving it back from IA too. You'll gain the ability to adjust your dampers and go retard strong with lowering it too much... but you'll gain an annoying ride in the process. I've owned two different sets of coilovers on to GC/F chassis...I'll keep with my Billsteins over them for sure
You get what you pay for. There are coilover setups out there that will blow your mind. If I had the money I'd be looking at Ohlins. Or Hot Bits. If you're looking for bang for the buck, from what I can tell you, get yourself a good strut/spring combo. Dropping aftermarket springs on existing struts is just going to disappoint. (I'm stuck with STi springs on WRX struts from the previous owner for the short term - talk about bad spring rates!) From what I'm seeing it's KYB or D Spec Struts with some well matched springs, depending on your goals. And also, search "cheap coilovers and droop" for a quick education on why $1k on coilovers is not a good deal.
Suspension is always about what you are using the car for. Getting really expensive name brand suspension with all the goodies and high spring rates will give you nothing but headache on the streets. Getting street coil overs which typically comes with 8k front and 6k rear springs will be very decent on the street and light track. But once you get better and demand more from them, you'd wish you got some other set. You can't just put stiffer springs and be done. You have to match your spring rates with the valving on the struts. BCs are great for the money but you have to detemine what you want out of them and buy accordingly.
I had BC's on my old SRT4. It rode better with those CO's than hotchkis springs and kyb struts. Also been in a car running eibachs and koni yellows...I wasn't impressed. I have a few friends that run HPDE events once a month running the BC's and they love them. I will be going with BC's on my wrx.
anyone have experience with the fortune auto series? are there better brands I should look at than just BC etc? I don't know more or less I just want to be able to adjust my car height and keep the constant bouncy deal when on the freeway bleh.
From someone that ran coilovers for about 7 years... If you don't like bouncy driving, you're going to hate feeling like you're driving a cinder block on the freeway. You will also hate having to replace or re-valve them every few years because the third-world road system Minnesota has will absolutely wreck them. You will need to make covers for them for sure. After 2 winters of use (and if you know me, "use" meant driving less than 1000 miles total for the entire winter) my threads were almost completely useless. I had to take a wire wheel to them to remove the corrosion. Long trips much? Be prepared for back aches. All of the road bumpiness will be transferred into your ass, back and neck. And road noise will also be amplified. And I see above that when asked about your wheel and tire sizes, you said "17inch volks." You need to know the diameter, width, offset and tire size you are running, because you will most likely rub. You may have to roll your fenders. "Stretched tires" is not a solution to a rubbing problem, btw, unless you are carrying around an extra chromosome and enjoy being the inside joke of pretty much everyone that is an actual car enthusiast.
I vote that you get a good set of struts and springs and call er a day. What exactly is your motive for lowering and raising it? You rally-x it?
true, more low off set and slammed crap... I guess I don't browse enough of the herrafrush crap to see stretched tires and dingleberries wearing girl pants
that's not enough info. please get the correct info so we can determine if you indeed need coilovers or a proper spring strut combo.
looking up RCE springs, were would I get these don't really know any of the sites I'm finding them on.
might think about replacing the struts too while ur in there depending on how many miles u have on ur current struts. A lot of guys agree that their stock wrx struts are good to be replaced by around 80k. After replacing mine out at around 92k, I'm sure happy I did.
Now if I was just trying to look as good as Adele I'd get me some nice matching tires and rims to go with matching springs ride height. But if I was going to build my car and add ponies for track 5% of the time I wouldn't get something that has very little suspension travel. And stiffer/stiffest isn't faster!
BC coils is the worst coilovers I have ever bought. The damping settings is pointless. It'll be bouncy regardless of what setting your on. I firmly believe that if you don't track your car and use it mainly for daily driving, a nice spring/shock combo is best.
That's what I'm coming to believe. What do you guys have for ideas on the best strut lowering spring combo?
My D2's seem to ride nice. On the lower damp setting it's seems to float or soak up the bumps but you set it to stiff and it feels like the car is on rails and you feel every little crack in the road. I my self like the more solid feel and stiff ride. It does get old on longer drives but that's the joy of having a performance car. If I wanted a nice plush ride I would get a new Buick or caddy. Lol Springs and struts are def the way to go though of you don't want to set your own height and have the adjustability.
I had Koni Yellow and rallitek springs and the ride was awe some. It a little stiffer then stock ride feel but when you pushed it, it had great rebound response.
I have STi springs on KYB AGX 4 way adjustable struts. The ride is a little stiffer than stock on the 1st setting and gets stiffer the further you go to the #4 setting. I have them on the #2 setting and they are a fairly stiff, but the bobble head action is pretty minimal. The cornering on #2 is hands down better than anything that i've ever run before...super solid performance on clover leafs and tight cornering. You could probably run the same struts with RCE yellows/blacks and it would be a quality set up for you.
I had Koni Yellow inserts with Prodrive STi Red springs. Loved it, can handled much better then stock, and rode like a dream. I plan on running the GTWorks Bilstien/RCE Yellow combo on the new WRX.
I just got an e-mail back from them stating that they are in development for the fall of 2012. So, now what? I could wait to get the combo or get the springs and use them on the stock struts?
